Odisha Police Summons Former IAS Officer V K Pandian Over Missing Inquiry Reports

The Odisha Police on Wednesday issued a summons to former IAS officer and BJD leader V K Pandian in connection with the investigation into the alleged disappearance of two inquiry commission reports from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) during the tenure of the previous BJD government. Pandian, who served as former chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s private secretary for over 10 years and later joined the BJD ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, have been asked to appear before police on July 25 for “examination”. Police also asked him to extend full cooperation in the investigation. “You are requested to bring with you any documents, records, electronic devices, or other materials relevant to the investigation that may be in your possession or control,” read the police notice issued by the Capital Police Station. Pandian could not be reached for comment. Earlier, the police had issued summons to retired IAS officer Rajesh Verma and former Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer Manoj Mishra over the disappearance of two reports, one pertaining to the killing of Hindu seer Laxmananda Saraswati in Kandhamal in 2008, and the other on the fire at SUM medical college in 2016. While Verma served as principal secretary to the former CM between 2017 and 2019, Mishra served as secretary of the Electronics and IT Department and as officer on special duty (OSD) in the CMO during the BJD rule. The probe into the alleged disappearance of two inquiry commission reports started after an FIR was registered by the state’s Home Department on June 10, in which it was alleged that the two judicial commission reports are not available in the CMO and remain untraceable despite searches. The complaint alleged that while several other reports and files forwarded by the Home Department to the CMO were returned on June 4, 2024, when the Assembly election results became clear, these two remained missing. The FIR claimed that the “disappearance” of the reports created a reasonable suspicion that they may have been “intentionally removed, retained, concealed, destroyed or otherwise unlawfully dealt with”. The summons issued to Pandian comes less than a month after his wife, Sujata Karthikeyan, who was also an IAS officer, joined the BJD. Despite Pandian announcing his retirement from active politics after the BJD’s debacle in the 2024 elections, he continues to enjoy Naveen Patnaik’s trust and is currently heading the Biju Naveen Inspirational Foundation, an organisation that has Patnaik’s Delhi residence as its address. Though the BJD is yet to officially make a comment on the police summons to Pandian, party sources alleged that it was part of “diversionary tactics” by the BJP-led state government amid major protests in New Delhi and other parts of the country against the NEET question paper leak. The development also came a day after Naveen Patnaik echoed the protesters’ demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Patnaik, who returned from Delhi on Wednesday, also condemned the police action against protesting students, saying, “Everyone is deeply shocked by the violence of the police.” Patnaik also alleged that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other senior politicians were treated “very roughly” by the police. BJD workers have also hit the streets in Bhubaneswar and other parts of Odisha, demanding the resignation of Pradhan.